The Industrial Giant Reborn

The British Empire used to be the most powerful empire in human history, hardly one of them, and its colonies are as wide as it is. It is a pity that when it monopolizes too many benefits, the rising countries have to develop in order to develop. It must be challenged, so World War I and World War II appeared.

The merger of the two European wars caused the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution to be overtaken by the United States across the Atlantic Ocean, and controlled a large part of Europe, and the British Empire fell.

However, the afterglow of the British Empire still lingers in the hearts of many people. For example, even if many countries are not colonies, they are still in the Commonwealth headed by the Queen of England. This can be said to be the export of British culture and the influence of long-term education. Until 21 After the influence of the Century Internet became large enough, it gradually disappeared.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Britain's national prestige was in the process of declining. Therefore, Argentina, the small overlord of South America, had a military conflict with the United Kingdom for the Falklands. This war ended in Britain's victory, which really surprised the world. After all, Argentina's strength is not too weak, and it lost the battle at home, which also shows that Britain may still have a little remaining strength.

Because of this, the entire British government is also very confident about Hong Kong affairs, believing that when the strong lady Thatcher goes to Yanjing in person, she will definitely get the ending she wants.

It is also a British colony. Hong Kong and the Falkland Islands are exactly the same in nature. The Falkland Islands are actually just a group of islands, which have no economic benefits, and even have little value for development. The British government will fight this war from thousands of miles away. , purely to maintain their dignity in the world.

But Hong Kong is different. Hong Kong's status is much higher than that of the Falkland Islands. It is currently one of the world's financial cities, and its status in Asia is second only to Tokyo. The British government naturally hopes to keep this Pearl of the Orient forever.

However, Argentina and the mainland are two different things. Although Argentina's economy may be better, its military strength is another matter entirely. When the era of electronic technology warfare has not yet come, the army in the mainland can be said to be the best in the world. The whole world has seen the several wars in the 1950s and 1970s. Moreover, the Falkland Islands are located outside the mainland of Argentina, and the battle needs to rely on the navy, which can be regarded as the strength of the United Kingdom, while Hong Kong is connected to the mainland by land.

In the face of the issue of national territorial sovereignty, the United Kingdom wants to delay by negotiating, without any chance.

For the negotiation meeting between Yanjing and Beijing, ordinary reporters did not have any chance to enter the venue, but this did not prevent the media from all over Hong Kong from stationing in Yanjing to keep an eye on this matter. TVB also arranged for reporters to broadcast the whole process live.

It was originally waiting for the press conference after the diplomatic negotiations, but there was another scene waiting at the entrance of the Great Hall:

After the British diplomatic team came out of the Great Hall of the People, all the staff looked dignified and did not smile at all. Thatcher, who was walking in the front, ignored the reporters around who wanted to interview. Under the protection of bodyguards, Go down the stairs.

Suddenly, without knowing why, Thatcher stepped on a staircase and fell down. Fortunately, the bodyguards around her stopped her in time, but it was still a bit late. Thatcher was crooked and almost fell. land.

Although it was only a few seconds, it was impossible for the cameras of hundreds of reporters around to miss this moment, and the historical scene was recorded in this way.

After this incident, the mainland quickly held a press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announcing publicly that the mainland government would take back Hong Kong's sovereignty in 1997, and also proposed the policies of "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" and "one country, two systems".

The tough attitude of the mainland government is also known to the world. Before the British government visited the mainland, it had repeatedly stated in public that it would not give up Hong Kong. What will happen in the future, no one knows.

For a time, the whole of Hong Kong was shrouded in uncertainty.

The Hang Seng Index plummeted by 150 points immediately after the negotiation results came out. The four major exchanges in Hong Kong were much busier than the busiest stock market bull market before, with countless people holding stocks and intending to convert them into cash. And many gold shops and banks in Hong Kong have also become key targets, and a large number of people ran to exchange gold or US dollars.

Until two days later, Thatcher came to Hong Kong and made two remarks. First, Britain will not give up Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient. Second, no matter what the outcome is, they will not start a war near Hong Kong.

Whether it is because it is impossible to fight in the vicinity of the mainland, or to win over panic-stricken Hong Kong, after these two remarks were published in newspapers and TV, the panic in Hong Kong has indeed decreased a lot. Stable and normal work and life.

Later, Thatcher also held a party in Hong Kong, inviting all political and business celebrities in Hong Kong, especially some wealthy Chinese. Over the years, Chinese consortiums have also begun to compete with British capital and become a powerful force in Hong Kong society. .

However, Chen Zhiwen was not among them, because as early as a week ago, before Thatcher went to Yanjing, he left Hong Kong and went to the United States.

He doesn't want to participate in such a big event sandwiched between the two five permanent members, he might as well come to the United States to have fun.

New York, Douglas Hotel, inside a spacious cafe:

"Recently, things in Hong Kong have become the headlines of American news." Henry Morgan said with a smile, looking at the newspaper in his hand.

"Americans just like to watch the excitement. In fact, this matter has nothing to do with the United States." Chen Zhiwen shrugged.

"That's true. Caring about Hong Kong is better than caring about some Mexico. Now the problem of smuggling is getting more and more serious." Henry Morgan said.

"The problem that developed countries will never be able to solve is the root cause of smuggling. The US government has always acquiesced." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

A big country like the United States has a very long border with Mexico. It is indeed impossible to conduct comprehensive surveillance, even with the cheapest electronic cameras in the future. However, the fundamental reason for smuggling is still because it is profitable. After all, except for a few colonists, who the hell has nothing to do and likes to leave their hometowns and go to other countries illegally.

Smuggling people can find a lot of jobs in the United States, but the Immigration Bureau also turns a blind eye, which is the root cause of the problem, just like in many illegal transactions, the fact that there are always a large number of buyers is the root cause.

In today's United States, labor costs are too high. In order to reduce costs, many capitalists recruit these people, and a large number of capitalists have a lot of influence. With the cover-up, American society eventually acquiesces to this model.

"Eric, you can always see the problem at a glance." Henry Morgan said with a smile.

"I can still see it far away. In a few decades, maybe the main population in the United States will no longer be white, but Latino." Chen Zhiwen added. In ancient China, there were five random Chinese, but now, the blacks in France and the Latinos in the United States are all precursors.

"It's reasonable for you to say that. It's really possible." Henry Morgan nodded and said, "But it's none of our business. At that time, I may not be here anymore, and you will be old too."

"Yes." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile: "How are you selling a bunch of other businesses of RCA?"

"Basically, it's almost sold off. Only the core asset of NBC is left. RCA has already existed in name only, but there are more than one billion dollars in the account." Henry Morgan nodded and said.

"You can try to buy some newspapers and media. Anyway, your identity is fine. If you like influential ones, just buy them." Chen Zhiwen said.

RCA's TV, radio business and many patents in LCD were acquired by Chen Zhiwen, and there are many other non-television business types. Although the scale is not as large as the first two, the sum is not to be underestimated, especially the carpet. The scale of the business in the U.S. market is not small. The sum of these ins and outs, the funds sold even far exceeded the value of RCA's TV business.

"I've been researching it recently, but I haven't found a suitable target," Henry Morgan said.

"I don't know much about the media, but there is one person who is very proficient. Have you heard of Murdoch?" Chen Zhiwen asked.

"I heard that people from Australia have bought a lot of newspapers in the United States in recent years." Henry Morgan said, "You mean to buy his media company? But as far as I know, his company is not listed, and Such a person who has been in the industry for half his life, even if he sells the assets in his hand, it is impossible to work for others."

"You're not allowed to buy his company, so you just have to keep an eye on him. This person has a strong vision, and what he looks at should be good things." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.

"That's fine, but I can't keep doing this kind of thing. I'll do it after he sees some big target." Henry smiled and said, "I heard that you have already cleared all the shares in Apple Inc. gone?"

"Yes, Apple has announced that I don't have any shares in Apple anymore." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.

As in the previous history, Apple encountered difficulties in its development. Its strong rival IBM launched a stronger personal computer. Although the scale of Midea’s personal computer business did not affect Apple, the split-type idea emerged and solved the problem. Problems that were difficult to solve before, such as heat dissipation, weight, etc. This made it easier for many small companies to launch their own personal computers.

Apple's success in this era does not depend on high technology. No matter how powerful Woz's technology is, it is impossible to compare with a team of hundreds of thousands of engineers. Apple's success is because Jobs first proposed The idea of ​​a personal computer, and the fact that it was the first personal computer, and the huge amount of fame and aura and so on.

Just like Tesla in the 2010s, when other brands enter the market, although Tesla will still achieve high results, it will be far worse than the previous era when it was almost the only one. However, Apple, which launched Apple mobile phones in later generations, is an exception, because they have a strong technical reserve before.

And the current Apple company, since its listing, has not launched any new models or technologies and other things that are eye-catching. , almost nothing, but the Apple brand is destined to launch products that will "change the world". The press conference was delayed again and again.

The same is true for Tesla decades later, but fortunately, it still has a unique trick: cost reduction. Therefore, at various shareholder meetings (without press conferences), Musk did not talk about innovation or technology, but how to The cost has been reduced. Of course, cost reduction is also a technology, but for a great company, you can’t always just think about cost reduction, right? Similar to Apple in the 2000s, if it only wanted to reduce the cost of the iPod, how could there be an iPhone?

Under such circumstances, Chen Zhiwen sold all of Apple's shares at a high level, making a profit of more than 800 million U.S. dollars. As a major shareholder of Apple, every time he sells, he must announce it, which is completely legal, and even taxes are required. Hand over, how to avoid taxes on this money will be one of the main tasks when I come to the United States this time.

"Your investment is really good. Apple's stock has started to fall in the past two months. This is not the most important thing. The important thing is that Apple's market share has begun to fall seriously, and there are no new products. Wall Street is no longer Too bullish on Apple," said Henry Morgan.

"Without this ability, how do you think I have everything I have now?" Chen Zhiwen picked up the cappuccino and took a sip of it.

"That's right." Henry Morgan nodded, and said, "A powerful figure in our family wants to meet with you. The time is up to you, as long as it is the nearest, and the location is the same. New York is fine. What do you think?"

"What kind of powerful person?" Chen Zhiwen asked curiously.

"The kind that can determine my fate in one sentence." Henry Morgan said.

"Then why did he see me?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.

Several major monopoly consortiums a hundred years ago respectively controlled oil, finance, steel, transportation, mining, etc. in the United States. Although they were split up by anti-monopoly laws later, this did not affect the existing interests of these consortiums. The United States is good at inviting professional managers, but the wealth of the ancestors is not as good as that of Hong Kong, and it is easy to be ruined by future generations.

As far as oil is concerned, even if many of Rockefeller's subsidiaries go bankrupt, those who survive are all giants. Among the top 20 oil giants in the world, 4 have Rockefeller's shadow behind them.

The Morgan consortium may be a little bit worse, but it is recognized as a large bank directly under them, and there are two giants, namely JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, which are also at the level of controlling the wind and rain in the US market.

Of course, there are also some former big consortiums that have declined, but most of them were attacked or besieged by other giants, or this industrial chain is not suitable for American production, or the industry has been replaced by new industries, such as the former railway king, almost monopolized The railways in the United States, but in the era of ocean containers, the railways have completely declined. Even in the United States, the cost of ocean transportation on the east and west coasts is still lower than that of railways. The railway family is still rich, but it is not as good as the previous eleven.

"I don't know what he thinks, but the first meeting must be a casual chat. You are a smart person. Maybe after this chat, you will understand his intentions." Henry said.